Chanel Vane
Template:Rb Chanel Antionette Wodehouse-Vane is a witch who attends Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. She is the daughter of muggle Aurthur Wodehouse-Vane and witch Emily Wodehouse-Vane, and sister to a pair of younger twin brothers. Chanel is a 7th year Gryffindor. Family Heritage Vane Family (Paternal) Early History The Vane family has been around since about 500 AD, with origins in Wales. From those early days they were not the aristocratic dynasty that they are now, rather, they started out as a small merchant family. As their fortunes eventually grew from trade, they invested much of their money in the purchase of land. As this was not a terribly easy task in medieval England, it took some time for the Vanes to accumulate enough land to begin receiving a livable amount of revenue from renting, trading, selling, and so forth. However, once this happened it seemed that the fortunes began pouring in. The Vane family eventually found its way into gentry. Recent History The Vane family has stayed in the land business, and owns incomprehensibly large tracts of land all throughout the UK. The family has branched out into other businesses and have been quite successful in these endeavors too. It has remained as an influential aristocratic family line since its early days, and members of the family have even been granted peerages. The Vane family has been firmly comprised of muggles, as far as anyone knows. Chanel is the first known witch born into the family. Arthur Alexander Vane Businessman extraordinaire and real estate mogul, Arthur Alexander Vane is a name well known and respected by those in the top circles of society. He is incredibly wealthy and is named as the inheritor of the Vane fortunes as well as his father's peerage. Arthur is the embodiment of charm itself. No one he's ever met dislikes him; even his business rivals bear a grudging like for him. He is tall and handsome, with a strong jawline and toffee-brown hair. He is also the athletic type. Arthur had absolutely no idea that his wife's family was a Wizarding one, or even that magic existed, until his marriage to Emily was 12 years along and Chanel received her acceptance letter to Hogwarts. He was quite shocked at first, but after a surprisingly short time, he came to terms with it and his love for his family overcame his surprise. Wodehouse Family (Maternal) Early History The Wodehouse family is almost entirely made up of pure blood witches and wizards. From the very beginning they were a well respected magical family. They were involved with the creation of the Ministry of Magic at its very start, and many Wodehouse family members have had positions in the Ministry. Chanel's great great great grandmother was the Head Warlock of the Wizengamot, and many other members of the Wodehouse family have had similarly illustrious careers. The Wodehouse family has always been wealthy and aristocratic, although no one really knows why or how. Modern History The Wodehouse family still have a heavy hand in the Ministry, although a lot of the family has branched out to other careers. During the Wizarding Wars, they opposed Voldemort, and as a result many members of the family were slaughtered, particularly those in the Ministry that had important or influential jobs. This may be the reason why so many later Wodehouses decided against a Ministry career. The Wodehouse family is considered a pureblood line, even though a few muggles have married into the family in more recent years. Emily Francis Vane Emily Francis Vane attended Hogwarts, where she was absolutely fascinated by muggle studies. In her fourth year there, she was scouted by a muggle modeling agent while she was visiting a friend in London. She declined the job then, but in her seventh year at Hogwarts she contacted the agent, who was incredibly pleased that she wanted the job after all. From there she was launched into a modeling career that would eventually lead her to be an internationally recognized face with an incredible record behind it. Emily adored her career because it allowed her to learn about muggles more closely, and to understand their culture. Emily was on the runway at Paris Fashion Week when she saw her future husband for the first time. He was in the front row at the end of the catwalk, and when she accidentally made eye contact with him, he gave her the most beautiful smile she had ever seen. Later on that night, they ran into each other at an afterparty, and from there an enviable romance began. They were engaged a year later, and married a year after that. The Wodehouse family insisted that Emily keep the family name, and double-barrel it with Vane. Eventually, Emily and Arthur agreed (just to make the family stop bothering them about it). Despite the official family name being "Wodehouse-Vane," the family just uses Vane in unofficial capacities. Emily was 23 when she became pregnant with Chanel, her first child. Biography Early Life Chanel's early life was non-magical. Her mother did an excellent job of keeping the family heritage a secret, and explaining away any magical instances that Chanel accidentally caused. Chanel wanted for nothing as a child, and was spoiled ever so slightly. Chanel attended a prestigious preparatory school before she was requested to attend Hogwarts, and did very well in her classes there. When she received her letter from Hogwarts, she was surprised. She had no idea that she was a witch, although it did explain some of the odd things that always seemed to be happening to her. Acceptance at Hogwarts Years 1-6 Chanel passed through her first two years at Hogwarts with nothing terribly remarkable happening to her. She got good grades, and made a healthy amount of friends. However, during the winter break of her third year, Chanel was kidnapped by a pair of muggles. The two men had seen an article claiming that her father was one of the wealthiest men in the UK, and decided that they would take Chanel for a hefty ransom. Chanel was shut in a damp basement for three days, facing abuse from the two men the whole time. When the men told her that they hadn't sent her family a ransom note yet because they were planning on keeping her for a few more days, her anger and fear at the men built up so strongly that she was able to wandlessly stupify the men and escape. This instance (which would later be classified as Accidental Wandless Magic) would lead Chanel to be taken to trial by the Ministry. They thought that she had purposefully performed magic in front of two muggles, but quickly understood that she neither had a wand at the time, nor did she mean to use magic. After this, she continued on with her schooling at Hogwarts, still getting good grades and not facing anything particularly remarkable. However, her personality had changed somewhat as a result of the trauma she faced. Year 7 Life at Home Physical Appearance Chanel is relatively petite and has a dainty figure. Her eyes are blue and her hair is very light brown. She sometimes dyes it blonde, though she didn't start doing this until after her third year. Fashion is very important to Chanel. Not only does it provide a way for her to feel close to her mother, it also acts like a protective barrier between herself and the world. You will never catch Chanel in clothing that isn't straight off the runway. Even her exercise clothing is haute couture. Personality Chanel is kind, and very congenial. Even though she has a temper she tries to keep it under control. She makes friends quickly and is well-liked by most. Chanel can be a little hardheaded, and gets into sticky situations because of it. Once she has her mind set on something she'll go after it even if she knows it could get her into trouble. Chanel is also rather a perfectionist. After being kidnapped, Chanel changed a little. Before, she was not a very guarded person, and was a lot more cheerful. Her personality remained largely the same, but she gained some traits as well. She suddenly had a bleaker outlook on life, and started having horrible nightmares and flashbacks about the men who took her. In order to cover this up, Chanel adopted an aloof personality that she keeps up around people that she doesn't know well. She also started acting more snobbish and putting forth a slight "rich bitch" vibe. Of course, this drops once she gets used to someone, and she can be quite goofy if she's comfortable enough. Chanel has this idea that she has to fill a certain role, one which her father's family expects her to be in. She has to fit in with the muggle world, and the intensely elitist world of the Vane family. Coupled with the fact that she has to hide her magical identity from them as well, Chanel feels exceedingly pressured. This may be one of the reasons she began acting more snobbish and posh after she was kidnapped--it was the persona that could most seamlessly fit in with her father's family. Skills and Abilities Hobbies and Interests Possessions Relationships Rumors Trivia